HE
KNOWS -- OR DOES HE?
IT
IS reported that Mr. Robert Corbin told his supporters at a
public meeting two Saturday nights ago at the Well Site,
Ruimveldt, that it was the work of the Police to find
evidence concerning the “phantom gang”, and should he,
Corbin, provide the evidence then he should be the
Commissioner of Police.
Mr. Corbin had all along maintained that he had the evidence
and intelligence reports concerning the gang, and did not
disclose it to the Commissioner of Police because he felt
uncomfortable, as the Police were part of the suspects.
In view of what he told his supporters, is it not an
admission or could it not be assumed that he does not have
the evidence since he is not the Commissioner of Police?
In addition to being party leader and Opposition Leader, Mr.
Corbin is a lawyer. And as a lawyer, he should know it is an
offence to withhold information of a criminal nature from
the police.
SAFDAR HUSSEIN
How
unfair!
THE
PNC/R continues to want to lay down the laws for all and
sundry but relegates to itself the powers to do what it
wants.
It
claims that it will not accept Minister Rohee’s position
that he will not be part of a Parliamentary Committee with
PNC/R MP Jerome Khan as a member owing to a statement made
by Khan about him.
Yet
the PNC/R comes and goes when it wants, absenting itself
from Parliament for the flimsiest of excuses, organizing
‘peaceful’ street protests and rallies which have
invariably ended up in violence being meted out to truly
peaceful citizens.
The
PNC/R recently walked out of a ceremony in which Home
Affairs Minister Ronald Gajraj was present, and then
declared that it would not be attending or participating in
any function that the Minister would be part of.
The
PNC/R believes that part of its role as an opposition party
is to indulge in subversive, extra-parliamentary actions,
indeed, to have its way in everything it says or does, but
that it is wrong for the government to condemn such
behaviour or go about running the affairs of the nation in
the way that it sees fit and that is in consort with the
majority of the Guyanese people.
How
unfair! But then again, that is what politics is all about
– a dirty game.
Yours
faithfully,
Marlene D.
PPP
must put its house in order
IT
is time for the PPP to put its house in order. It can do so
first by putting a stop to the public bashing of members of
the party, and then by re-asserting its leadership role.
I
think it is a good thing for the people out there to know
that even though members of the party ultimately are a
united people, projecting a common position on burning
issues of the day when it matters most, members at the
executive level are human enough to have conflicting or
opposing positions on some issues.
But,
hey, who wants to be grilled day after day about what one
member said or didn’t say about another member?
Why
does that have to be a publicly ventilated controversial
issue, when there are more fundamental public policy matters
to deal with? All these people – from the President down
to the lowest rung of the party ladder – should be
brainstorming how to improve our country’s shaky economy,
how to deal conclusively with the Bacchus/Gajraj affair, how
to reform or implement tax strategies in order to widen the
tax base and get more people to honour their
responsibilities to the state.
I
want to see the PPP/C and the PNC/R spend less time
attacking and criticizing each other and more time working
together in a number of areas, so as to make the country’s
political climate more stable, and put the Guyanese people
in a better framework to increase production and
productivity.
But
how is all this possible when the PNC/R is busy trying to
get Gajraj out of the way so that those freedom fighters
still around can operate in a freer environment? How is all
this possible when the PPP is busy officiating at the
fighting down of members of that party?
Lots
of people, including Mr. Lincoln Lewis, are saying ever so
often that the government is turning a blind eye to
discrimination and marginalization, or is part of those
processes. These people may be exaggerating to some degree,
because they are sworn to the engineering of an
anti-government, anti-PPP agenda. That is their mission. But
does the PPP or government have a committee looking into
some or possibly all of those allegations and recommending
that, where Mr. Lewis and others have a case, the
allegations are investigated and corrective action taken?
I
do not think it is right for the PPP or the government to
brush aside every allegation as mere politicking. There may
be genuine cases that need to be looked into quickly,
impartially and conclusively.
Yes,
Mr./Madam Editor, I think it is time that the PPP puts its
house in order.
Dennis Singh
This
is a regrettable situation
OUR
society is witnessing a regrettable situation in which two
stalwarts of the Central Executive of the People’s
Progressive Party [PPP], Khemraj Ramjattan and Moses
Nagamootoo, are at loggerheads with the organization.
It
would seem to me, as a member of the Party, that when they
joined the Party they were aware of, accepted and so should
not now find fault with the constitution and the rules and
by-laws of the party. They have been summoned to appear
before the disciplinary committee and have a chance to air
their grievances there.
Breaches
such as these are not easy to mend or resolve and can lead
to acrimony and disaffection among members if not dealt with
in a rational manner early on.
Before
this happens, the honourable thing would be for Mr.
Nagamootoo and Mr. Ramjattan to resign. That is, if they
definitely cannot get along with the Party. If the
controversy can be dealt with in an honourable manner, the
better it will be for the Party.
But I disagree that the Party should be held to ransom for
any reason by any member of the Party.
Yours
faithfully,
Bevon Green
Not
carrying certain views does not imply there’s a shackled
press
IF
the state-owned newspaper, the Chronicle, or the state-owned
radio station and television station, the former GBC and GTV,
do not carry the views of certain people or even
organizations, as is being claimed by some, is this in fact
a denial of press freedom and freedom of expression?
Are
the freedom of the press and the freedom of expression
absolute?
They
are not the only media in the country. There are numerous
television stations [one with even its own radio channel
which broadcasts on 24/7] and several other newspapers,
which are not hampered in any way whatsoever, as happened
before 1992, to carry whatever news and views they wish.
So,
even if we were to accept the unsubstantiated allegation
that the State media do not carry certain things as a matter
of policy, which some people feel they should, can anyone
justifiably claim that there is in fact a denial of the
freedom of expression?
In
fact, these other media, which are privately owned and claim
to be independent, exercise sole discretion over what they
do or do not carry.
Can
they, then, having abrogated this right to themselves and
freely exercise it, say that freedom of expression is
denied, if the state media exercise the same right?
I
do not think so. Not carrying certain views on any one
medium does not and cannot imply that there’s a shackled
or stifled press in Guyana. No way!
Yours
faithfully,
Miranda Adams
